Improving Birmingham’s Mass Transit
Mass transit is a point of frustration for many Birmingham boosters, who see the bus system as woefully under developed and underfunded. But with the World Games coming to Birmingham in 2021 and the city going after other tourism events, the public transit system gains new importance. We talk about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace. Birmingham Business Journal editor Cindy Fisher Crawford spoke with WBHM’s Andrew Yeager about the struggles transit in Birmingham has faced through the years. They also talk about the effect of Birmingham’s food truck ordinance after two years and the state of Birmingham’s housing market.
The 2025 pop culture yearbook, from pettiest cameo to nerdiest movie moment
Dueling Safdie brother movie projects, Love Island USA chaos, a feces-filled And Just Like That … finale: looking back on an eclectic year for pop culture.
How President Trump reshaped capitalism in 2025
His policies are picking winners and losers — and blurring the lines between business and government.
The DOGE mindset is still central to the Trump administration’s agenda as 2025 ends
The Department of Government Efficiency effort was one of the most consequential and controversial – if not entirely successful – changes the Trump administration made in 2025.
How systemic failures turn state mental hospitals into prisons
The share of people with severe mental illness in state psychiatric hospitals accused of serious crimes has risen steeply. The shift has all but halted the possibility of care before a catastrophic crisis.
Here are some of the NPR stories that had a big impact in 2025
A sampling of the stories NPR staff believe made some of the deepest ripples this year — reminders of what rigorous, compassionate journalism can do, and why the work remains as urgent as ever.
Can Americans learn to love tiny, cheap kei cars?
President Trump recently embraced kei cars, tiny vehicles that are popular in Asia but hard to get in the U.S. Kei car enthusiasts are delighted — but doubt whether much will change.

